This invention relates to brake rigging for railway cars. Previously, to apply the brakes to rail wheels located at the ends of the car, a longitudinally extending top rod is attached to a first vertical lever which is attached to an inner brake beam for applying the brakes to the inner wheels. A bottom connection is passed under the truck bolster to apply brake forces to the outer truck wheels. However, if this bottom connection becomes disconnected from its brake beam, the bottom connection can drop between the tracks and can cause the car to derail.
It has also been proposed to pass a top rod between the truck bolster and the car body, and a bottom rod back through the bolster to apply the brakes to the inner wheels. However this arrangement often results in interference between the top rod and the car body and/or truck bolster, particularly where long travel truck springs (above about two and one-half to three inches) are utilized. Furthermore if it is desired to provide the truck with an anti-hunting device, even greater clearance problems result when attempting to pass the top rod between the truck bolster and the car body.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,184,000 a brake rigging is disclosed in which a brake rod is passed below the inner truck axle to the inner brake beam, and then a bottom connection is passed through an opening in the truck bolster to the outer brake beam. A dead lever rod extends below the outer axle and is attached to the car body. However this brake rigging utilizes relatively shorter levers (below one foot) and therefore the levers must pass through large angles (above about 60 degrees) when the brakes are applied.